MANKATO, Minn. --- The Minnesota State men's basketball team (12-5, 8-3 NSIC) the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs (9-6, 6-5 NSIC) 80-77 Friday night at Taylor Center.

In the opening minutes of the game the Mavericks overcame a flurry of early fouls to take a 20-13 lead.  Ball movement and finding the open man led to some open shots for Minnesota State. 

The whistles dragged down the pace of the game for both teams in the following minutes of the game, extending the first half and giving each team early opportunities from the line.  Taking advantage of the three-point line, the Mavericks took a 36-31 lead into halftime. 

Juwan McCloud led the Mavericks with ten points in the first half while adding four assists and two rebounds.  Carlos Anderson was second on the team with eight points and he added three boards.  Minnesota State Made 4-9 of their three-point attempts in the half compared to 2-6 for Minnesota Duluth and assisted on seven shots compared to four. 

In the second half the Cameron Kirksey dominated the offensive glass, pulling down boards and putting the ball back up and in on back-to-back possessions.  This allowed Minnesota State to extend their lead to 56-47 with 10:46 to go in the second half.

The Bulldogs managed to rally back into the game, cutting the Mavericks lead to 68-66 with 4:32 to go in the second half with several opportunities at the line.  Minnesota Duluth continued clawing back and took a 74-70 lead with 1:42 to go.  Forced to foul, the
Mavericks had to climb out of a hole and Kevin Krieger drilled a three-pointer with :06.7 to go to cut the Bulldog lead to 1.  After another pair of free throws from Minnesota Duluth, the Mavericks attempted a full court pass to setup a potential game tying shot, but the pass came up short and was taken by the Bulldogs to seal the 80-77 win.

Anderson and Krieger finished as the leading scorers for the Mavericks with 16 points apiece, and McCloud finished with 14 points and six assists.  Minnesota State shot 50% from the three point line making 7-14, but the free throw discrepancy favored the Bulldogs as they made 24-31 attempts compared to 18-25 for the Mavericks

The Mavericks will wrap up their four game homestand tomorrow when they host St. Cloud State at 5:30 p.m.